The following guest blog post is from Tho Nguyen, AAAS Fellow in Computer Systems Research in the Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE) at the National Science Foundation (NSF). Today marks the end of the 2015 Cyber-Physical Systems Week.  As part of the week of celebrations, NSF sponsored a meeting of early-career investigators in cyber-physical systems to focus on exploring research challenges and opportunities in Smart Cities. The Cyber-Physical Systems community is an exciting group of researchers and developers working to advance the emerging system science that deeply integrates computing (cyber) and engineered (physical) components. CPS enables truly “smart” technologies, systems, and infrastructures of the future. Examples of CPS today include the self-driving […]

The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) is delighted to announce a new feature on our website! Great Innovative Ideas are a way to showcase the exciting new research and ideas generated by the computing community. Once a month we will post an article highlighting new research going on in the field and ideas generated by our colleagues. This feature will replace the Highlight of the Week. All previously posted highlights of the week are archived here. A few of the ideas showcased in Great Innovative Ideas will be from the CCC Blue Sky Ideas Conference Track, including our first Great Innovative Idea from Marian Petre (Open University) and Daniela Damian (University of […]

The University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) Awards Program identifies and honors members of the geospatial community who have extraordinary records of accomplishments, including service to the mission of UCGIS. This year, the top honor for education goes to Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Council member Dr. Shashi Shekhar of the University of Minnesota, for his expansion and strengthening of Geographic Information Science education. From the UCGIS announcement: Shashi Shekhar, the McKnight Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Minnesota, was singled out for our Education Award. Dr. Shekhar has left a mark at every level of GIScience education. In 2003, Dr. Shekhar co-authored a textbook […]

  The National Academies Forum on Cyber Resilience held its inaugural meeting this week in Washington, DC. The Forum is focused on advancing the national dialogue about our cyber systems and their resilience and plans to address issues including cybersecurity and trustworthiness; stakeholder values; and preparation, response, and recovery in the face of malicious attacks, technological disruptions and natural disasters. It is chaired by Fred B. Schneider, directed by Lynette I. Millett, and made up of a multidisciplinary group of experts, with perspectives spanning research, practice, technology, and policy. The Forum will convene three times annually to plan and execute workshops and supplementary activities. At the public session this week, forum […]

The next WATCH Talk, called Inside Anonymous, is Tuesday, April 8, 12:00-1:00PM EST.  The presenter is Gabriella (Biella) Coleman, the Wolfe Chair in Scientific and Technological Literacy at McGill University. Trained as a cultural anthropologist, Coleman researches, writes, and teaches on computer hackers and digital activism. Her first book on Free Software, Coding Freedom: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Hacking has been published with Princeton University Press. Her new book, Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous, published by Verso, has been named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2014. Abstract Anonymous, a group of hackers, activists and technologists, came to the fore in 2008 when they attacked the church of […]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) invites the public to comment on a draft report from the Feb. 12, 2015, Executive Technical Workshop on Improving Cybersecurity and Consumer Privacy. The workshop, a collaboration with Stanford University, brought together chief technology officers, information officers and security executives to discuss the challenges their organizations and industrial sectors face in implementing advanced cybersecurity and privacy technologies. The following statement is from Donna Dodson, chief cybersecurity advisor for NIST. We’d like to hear from workshop participants and those who couldn’t be there to help us develop and prioritize future NIST cybersecurity projects. Feedback such as this helps us ensure that we focus […]